Kegs for holding beverages such as beer are traditionally made of metal. After use the keg is cleaned and re-filled so that the keg may be used many times during its lifetime. Increasingly though, kegs are used to transport the contents for long distances, sometimes between continents, and transport costs can make it uneconomical to return the kegs for re-use. There is also an environmental cost to be considered in transporting heavy containers for long distances, and in disposing of containers which consume a large amount of energy in their manufacture. It is therefore becoming more common to manufacture containers from lightweight inexpensive materials such as plastics, which are cheaper to manufacture and transport.
Kegs are traditionally provided with top and bottom chimes secured to opposite ends of a container body. The top chime provides handles for handling the kegs while the bottom chime provides a stable base upon which the keg may stand. The chimes also provide protection for the container body which is easily dented or damaged, particularly if the container is moved by rolling it on its side.
In metal kegs the chimes are usually welded to the keg body, but in plastic kegs the attachment becomes more problematical. Such kegs are likely to distort in use, particularly when the filled container is tipped to one side, which places considerable stresses on the area of attachment. One possibility would be to use a suitable adhesive, but this complicates manufacture and prevents the chime from being removed, e.g. when recycling the different components. It has been proposed to attach the chime to the neck of the container by means of a central hub having a number of inwardly-extending spring tines which engage the neck of the container to hold the chime in place, but this concentrates most of the stresses in the neck region, with potential risk of damage to the container valve and/or the container seal.
Another problem with attaching the top chime directly to the container neck is that there is nothing to prevent the valve assembly from being opened or even removed to gain access to the contents of the container.
The present invention seeks to provide a new and inventive means of attachment which makes the chimes simple to fit and easy to remove but which is also reliable in use with a low risk of damage or accidental detachment. A second objective is to provide a means of preventing unauthorised access to the contents of the container, or providing a clear indication when such tampering has occurred.